Sunday, November 12, 2006

"SPANISH FLY: This Foreign Kid Can Really Play! "

As a Knicks' fan, working out possible trades in your head is much more exciting than watching them trail by ten. While I can't think of anyone the Toronto Raptors would be so interested in acquiring in exchange (maybe Frye and Collins?), Jose Calderon somehow sits atop of my recent list of favorite players. When I spoke to Raptors Assistant Jim Todd this summer for ProBasketballNews.com, which is now fed from Better Basketball Online, and there was a sense that Toronto was really high on Calderon. In his second season in the league we're beginning to see his potential blossom.

In the FIBA World Championship Calderon stepped up and helped Spain take the title with 7.2 ppg, 3.2 apg and less than one assist per game. When the NBA resumed, Calderon played big minutes in the preseason. His best game probably being the 19 PT, 7 AST game he had against the Celtics. He got to show his natural floor generalship, ever-improving passing skills and surprisingly good rebounding tools. He's a natural point guard that can score and moves the ball well. In 5 games this year he's at 8.2 ppg, 3.2 apg in just under 16 minutes. While he needs to keep a handle on his turnovers his shooting ability shouldn't be slept on. He shot 50% from three in the preseason and has shot 2-5 from behind the arch in thus far this season.

WHO ELSE WOULD I WANT IF I COULD GET THE KNICKS A BACK-UP POINT GUARD?

-Earl Watson , Seattle SupersonicsWatson is someone the Knicks could actually go after and probably not have to give up too much to get. His 8.9 ppg and 4 assists last year are solid numbers for a real point guard.

-Rafer Alston , Houston Rockets"Skip-to-My-Lou's" 12 ppg and 6.7 apg should be something the Knicks should go after. He's a NYC guy and a once considered a problem, but he's a big a basketball star as any on the roster right now.

"Spinning The Globe - The Rise, Fall and Return to Greatness of the Harlem Globetrotters." By Ben GreenWith a Foreword by Bill Cosby Amistad/HarperCollins, May 2005

As an intern at The Source. I always come across cool shit. For instance this book I found, coming unbound, on the floor near the copy machine. Spinning The Globe is about something great in basketball and something lost in entertainment. The Harlem Globetrotters brought basketball around the country and were a part of spreading a sport that any would agree has done a lot of good for a lot of folks, except for possibly Kobe Bryant. It's interesting to follow the Globetrotters, who you'll find out did not originate in Harlem, across the around the world and even in their early years into the mining towns of the untamed western United States.

The Harlem Globetrotters certainly preceed the NBA, as far as an entity, in beging a greater national foundation for professional/competitive basketball. Of coarse, the league sets the standard for how the game is played, well, unless you took the World Championships to heart, but the 'Trotters were America's original introduction to the game. The only single thing being more valuable to the sport might be Michael Jordan.

About Me

Matt Caputo is the Associate Editor of SLAM magazine. He has written for Vibe, KING, Antenna, The Source, Boxing Digest, The L (bk/nyc), RIDES and BlackTable.com (RIP). He scored a B.A. in Journalism from SUNY Purchase and lives in Queens, NY.